


Throw it in the air

by plumblossomed



Series: SasuSaku Month 2019 [16]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, God I love that tag, High School AU, Modern AU, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 22:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19935703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plumblossomed/pseuds/plumblossomed
Summary: day 17: ink and paperA diary entry, a love letter, a note passed in class.





	Throw it in the air

**Author's Note:**

> I watched unrequited love on netflix in a week (which is very good for me lol im so bad at watching shows) and I loved it so much. The female lead writes in her diary about the male lead all during their school years so that inspired the first part. (if you’ve watched it i cried every time they showed the wall that said “luo zhi loves sheng huainan. nobody knows” ahh my heart!!) 
> 
> Title is from love letter by seventeen :)

After being in the same class for so many years, one would think that Sakura would have mustered up the courage to talk to Sasuke by now. She wasn’t as shy as she once was, but despite Ino’s weekly pep talks, her steps always faltered when she tried to get closer to him.

She ranked at the top of their class, right next to him, but it felt like she was always looking at his back. He hardly acknowledged anyone in their class, so she tried not to take it to heart when he always seemed to avoid eye contact with her. But Sakura’s heart was too big, she took everything too personally, and she felt like she would never get close enough to tell him how she really felt. 

So her diary heard all about Sasuke for years and years and years. The pages were well acquainted with how his back looked as she trailed behind him in the hallway, how fast he ran when playing games at lunchtime, how his eyes never seemed to miss anything. She always used purple ink when writing about Sasuke.

For all her years of observation, Sakura could never quite tell exactly how Sasuke felt, let alone how deeply. She always missed the signs.

When she looked at him, the back of his neck would prickle with heat. When he had to pass out tests and he got to her paper (with a 100% at the top, always), his hands got a little sweaty. She was kind to everyone in their class, so he didn’t want to read into her sweet smiles too much. 

But he caught her staring at him so often, could always feel those green, green eyes boring into his back. He always had to look away from her, never wanting to scare her off with his midnight eyes and stormy disposition. She didn’t bother him the way the other girls in their class always did. He noticed her and he needed her to know. He decided he would share his lunch with her one day during freshman year. The peaches growing in his backyard were particularly ripe this year, so when the lunch bell rang, he got ready to approach her with the sweetest smelling fruit he could pick. 

He rounded the corner outside their classroom and was merely five paces away from tapping her on the back so she would turn around and face him, finally,  _ finally  _ face him after he avoided her for so long. She often seemed to shy away from his intensity, but he would be gentle, at least for her. Before he even extended his hand, Naruto threw his arm around Sakura and declared, “Sakura’s my girlfriend!” to all their friends.

Sasuke walked back around the corner so quickly he missed the way she shoved him off and looked around to see if Sasuke was nearby to witness it all. She wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea. 

She didn’t see that familiar spiky hair, but she noticed a peach had fallen on the ground and split open.

* * *

It wasn’t until nearly a year later did Sakura decide that she couldn’t take it anymore. 

Her latest diary was nearly full, and every time she laid eyes on him it felt like her mouth would betray her and blurt out her secret. She couldn’t hide around the corner forever.

It was Valentine’s Day, and she always hoped to open her locker to find a gift from a secret admirer. This year, though, was the same as usual and her locker only held heart shaped chocolates from Ino. Just because no one was confessing their undying devotion to her didn’t mean the holiday was any less special. Sakura loved Valentine’s Day, the pinks and reds were familiar and welcomed. She still wrote to him with purple ink.

It was a long letter that read the way Sakura talked, rambly and sweet, but always firm in her feelings. There was no way Sasuke would lack any clarity when it came to understanding how Sakura felt about him. She wished for his happiness at the end, even if it wasn’t with her. She just needed him to know. 

As usual, his back was turned to her when she approached him. He was standing at his locker rifling through papers when her soft voice sounded, “Sasuke?” 

He turned around immediately, nearly dropping his papers in his haste. Her heart beat even faster. The letter felt like it was burning a hole in her pocket. 

She had already written everything she had to say to him, so she didn’t bother with a speech she knew she would mess up. She took the letter out and handed it to him, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” The paper was shaking slightly in her grip.

Sasuke looked at the letter for several long moments before he took it from her and murmured, “thank you, Sakura.” 

She hadn’t even been sure if he was going to take it, so a verbal response sent her stomach in a flurry and had her cheeks stained pink. She went back around the corner into the classroom so quickly she missed the smile on his face. 

* * *

She didn’t get a response until one month later. 

Or, she didn’t even allow him to get close to her, worried he would reject her face-to-face rather than just ignoring her. When she glanced at his back, it was more quickly than before. When she walked around their classroom, it was never past his desk. 

Sasuke wondered if the letter had been a dare, a prank. He hardly felt her looking at him anymore. Had he been wrong in his assumption that she liked him? Was she really Naruto’s girlfriend?

He didn’t care. He wasn’t so callous as to not give her an answer, especially when he had been trying to get close to her for so long, if only she would let him. 

On White Day, Sakura found a plump peach sitting on top of a letter on her desk. She bit into the peach, but quickly shoved the letter in the space under her desk, worried she would start crying, tears of joy if it was really from who she hoped, tears of disappointment if it was someone else. The sweet peach juice rolling down her chin was much preferred to her salty tears. 

Sasuke watched from the back door of their classroom. Was she that hungry? 

* * *

His letter had been short and to the point, but it was more than enough for Sakura. 

_ I like you too.  _

* * *

Sakura knew she was a hopeless romantic, but hadn’t expected her boyfriend to be one too. They continued writing to each other even though they went to school together. A letter in her locker was enough to make Sakura beam all day. She had waited a long time for this.

They even developed the habit of passing notes in class, something the two top students never would have done. They were lucky enough to be Kakashi’s favorite students, so he pretended not to notice the colorful sticky notes from Sakura’s stationary collection being passed across the aisle. 

_ I’m bored.  _

_ Hi bored, I’m Sakura!  _

_ Don’t be annoying. What are you doing? _

_ Writing to you? _

_ I was hoping for something more exciting. I’ll have to start. I’m sitting here, waiting for class to end so I can eat lunch with my girlfriend.  _

_ You must have one lucky girlfriend if she gets to eat with you ;) I’m sitting here being distracted by my boyfriend. _

_ I know you’re bored too. You’ve looked at the clock ten times within the last two minutes.  _

_ It’s a twitch...  _

_ Hm, what else is over there? Kakashi’s desk? Does someone have a crush? Should I be worried? _

_ Oh yeah, because old pervs who smell like dog are my type. I’m hungry.  _

Sasuke placed a peach gently on her desk along with a note: _ Wash your hands before we eat lunch, they’re covered in ink. Now pay attention in class.  _

Sakura folded the note in half and turned back to her notebook. She would need to focus if she wanted to keep her spot above Sasuke in the class rankings. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wish i could've come up with something for day 16 so it would be continuous but such is life. this is much longer than i anticipated and i still didn’t know how to end it lol but im hoping to post more for Sasuke’s bday, which is still tomorrow for me. Happy birthday to my ultimate king


End file.
